Many young adults often do not have the money necessary to have an old roof replaced, an undertaking that may run into thousands of dollars. But time and water do not care if you have the money or not. Postponing the roof replacement can even become a more costly mistake that can lead to additional damage especially if water is already leaking into the house. Finding out how much replacing the roof would cost is the first step to do to help guide you as to what changes you need to make in your monthly budget to come up with the necessary amount.
The first step to do is to find out the price of the roofing material you want to use. The type of material you wish to use weighs in heavily on the overall cost to overhaul your roof. You could choose to use the same kind of roofing material your roof already has for the roof’s replacement.
Aside from the price of the material, factor in the amount of time you would be staying in the house and the lifespan of the materials to determine which rate is right for you. The cheapest roofing material is those made up of asphalt shingles. Other costlier options are recycled rubber, clay tiles, metal, wood shingles, and slate. Three-tab asphalt shingles last between 15 to 20 years, while slate can last longer from 50 to 100 years.
The square footage of your roof would also affect the replacement cost. To find your roof’s square footage, head to the top of your roof with a measuring tape and measure the length and width of each roof plane. Compute the area or square footage of each plane by multiplying the length and widths you have measured. Simply add the resulting square footage of each plane to obtain your roof’s total surface area.
Ask price quotations from at least three different professional roofers so you can compare prices. You may want to give these roofers the square footage of your roof so they can calculate the cost. Request them to supply you a written estimate of costs which details all pertinent information such as the price of the material and the duration of the roof replacement project. Have the labor and material costs listed separately.
Once you have compared prices and chosen your contractor, it’s time to prepare the budget. Make a buffer for unexpected costs that you may incur such as overages and product wastage by adding 10 percent to the estimated price of your chosen roofing contractor. Divide this figure by the number of months that you need to be able to come up with the total amount for the project.
For instance, you would need to find a way to get $3,000 each month if you have to replace your roof with an $18,000 one within the next six months. If the difference between your monthly income and expenses falls below this mandatory monthly minimum, you either have to earn more money every month or slash your monthly expenses or even both.
Instead of postponing your urgent roof replacement, postpone your vacations or your plans to buy a car. Use public transport or a bicycle to work, conserve electricity by adjusting or lessening the times you use your thermostat, and stop subscribing from other onerous monthly services such as cable television, magazines, or phones. Reduce any other expenses in your monthly budget and realign portions of your income towards your roof.
All extra savings must be allocated to your roof savings until you reach the total amount needed to pay for the roof. You can also try having side jobs to increase your monthly income. The sacrifice will be worth the roof that you will be installing. As you proceed with your roof replacement project, write down every expenditure to monitor where your money is going.